State has little money for abandoned cemeteries

Friday

Aug 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2007 at 2:11 AM

PHOTO NOW ATTACHED... good state background info in story to help you localize.

Eric Fodor

Many hunters and walkers in Southern Illinois have shared the experience of entering a wooded area to find a long-forgotten cemetery. After a few moments of wondering about the people buried there and how the cemetery got into such an advanced state of neglect, most people move on and resume whatever got them there in the first place.

Others, of course, are connected to the places by ancestry or duty and find themselves having a need to do something about a cemetery's care.

Mike Vessell feels that way with Gaines Cemetery, sometimes known as Gregg Cemetery, north of Eldorado.

Having ancestors buried in the cemetery led Vessell to find out how the cemetery can be brought back from its current condition of neglect.

He learned not only about old cemeteries, but about how lack of money and unfunded state laws keep historic cemeteries like Gaines Cemetery from being brought back from decades of neglect.

Gaines Cemetery, one of several abandoned cemeteries in Saline County, is in a wooded area in the middle of a bean field on Grumley Road at the northeastern edge of Saline County. The property is owned by Roger Grumley and Becky Seely, Vessell said. A path through the bean fields -- courtesy of Rector Township Road Commissioner Mike Murray -- leads to the cemetery.

Vessell's great-grandparents, William H. Bramlet, who died Aug. 31, 1887 and Martha M. (Gregg) Bramlet, who died March 18, 1889, are buried there.

In all, 46 people are known to be buried in Gaines cemetery, according to a 1979 survey by the late John Murphy. Headstones that are still readable, indicate burials began in the 1840s. The last person known buried there was Frances A. Nelson, who died Sept. 17, 1945. She is buried next to her husband, Seth, who died in 1926.
Headstones range from some of the finest available in their time to sandstone markers that long ago became unreadable.

Surnames found on stones at Gaines Cemetery include Gaines, Bramlet, Gregg, Trousdale, Haley, Riley and Nelson, among others. The cemetery is located near the intersection of Saline, Gallatin, White and Hamilton counties. Descendants of people buried at the cemetery undoubtedly live in all four counties. Carmi Mayor Jimmy Gaines has ancestors in the cemetery, Vessell said.

Trees and undergrowth have overtaken the cemetery. Many of the stones lie on their sides, buried under years of accumulated leaves and brush.

"The Spanish daggers have taken this place over," Vessell said, referring to the spiky plants seen every few feet in the cemetery.

The area around the cemetery is picturesque. Turkeys can be seen with their chicks along the fence rows near the cemetery.

"I know the deer frequent the area," Vessell said.

Harry Bramlet, an SIC board member for many years, used to take care of the cemetery. Upkeep got away from Bramlet as he got older, Vessell said.

The Comptroller's Office is the state office charged with taking care of abandoned cemeteries. However, the Abandoned Cemeteries Act does not include any way to take care of problems. Lack of money leaves officials just as frustrated as people seeking help with abandoned cemeteries.

"There is no money in the bill," Miki Pavelonis of the Comptroller's Office said.
"We try to make sure that people have the right to get in and out of abandoned cemeteries, but we don't have any money."

In practice, dealing with abandoned cemeteries usually falls to lower levels of government, like townships or villages, or private parties who set up a trust fund to cover the costs of mowing and taking away old headstone decorations. But abandoned cemeteries have to be rescued before provisions for regular mowing will do any good.

Vessell spoke with Rector Township officials about the cemetery and learned the township has the same problem as Comptroller Dan Hynes -- no money for cemeteries. Rector Township has barely enough money on hand to keep township roads in good shape. Sometimes that takes creativity. Small townships typically don't have enough money or manpower to take on projects like cemetery upkeep. But enough money or not, Murray started helping Vessell after he contacted Rector Township officials.

"He made initial contact with our township board. Of course the funds are not available," Murray said.
"The board members are kind of embarrassed because they can't give him more. That is part of why I am out here."
Murray recently made an access path through the bean field that surrounds the cemetery.
"I was glad to make sure we could do as much as we did," Murray said.

The access path can be driven on, but a vehicle might have to back out 100 yards in order to get back to Grumley Road, Murray said.

After Vessell contacted Rector Township officials, Murray talked about the problem to Danny Case, road commissioner in Gold Hill Township in Gallatin County. Case told him it is possible inmates from Hardin County Work Camp could be used to clean up the area around the cemetery.

Murray has found enough money to buy some new tools and safety equipment, like chaps for chainsaw operators, in hopes a work crew can be found or the Hardin County Work Camp can get involved.

An inmate work crew cannot straighten or reset old stones, but that work would be easier if the cemetery is cleared of overgrowth, Murray said.

The Comptroller's Office tries to clean up one abandoned cemetery per year in Southern Illinois. The most successful project so far was an overgrown cemetery in Pulaski County, Pavelonis said. Several years ago, the Comptroller's Office got the ball rolling by involving work camp inmates in the cleanup. The Pulaski County cemetery now has an interest-bearing trust fund. Years ago, the interest on the account was enough to pay for mowing during the summer. Now, with gasoline prices rising, the interest is only enough to pay for two grass cuttings, Pavelonis said. The trustees eventually will be faced with using the principal in the trust fund to pay for mowing.

When that happens, the beginning of the end is near unless another revenue source is found, Pavelonis said.

Several abandoned cemeteries in Williamson County were cleaned up when Historical Preservation Agency money became available several years ago. County commissioners bought the necessary equipment and inmates from the county jail were used to clean up some cemeteries. The results were very impressive, Pavelonis said.

But Historical Preservation money is not available for cemeteries anymore. The best way to reclaim an abandoned cemetery is to do the work locally.

Vessell is still hoping for help, either from the Hardin County Work Camp or some other source that has not yet materialized.

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